Brain Dump: Good Girls, UnREAL, Black Lightning

Time for a brain dump of all things TV. Today I’ll talk about Good Girls, UnREAL, and Black Lightning.

Good Girls

Oops. This didn’t work out like we expected.

The three women in the lead on Good Girls are Retta as Ruby, Mae Whitman as Annie, and Christina Hendricks as Beth. They’re all moms.

Annie works in a supermarket for minimum wage. Her ex is suing her for sole custody of their kid. Ruby has a daughter with kidney failure and medication that runs $10,000 per month. Beth has four kids and a husband who has taken out 3 mortgages on their house and emptied their bank accounts – something she only discovers when she confronts him about an affair.

In desperation, they decide to rob the supermarket where Annie works. They thought they’d get about $30,000. Instead they walked out with half a million. Annie’s boss (sorry, I can’t find this character on IMDB) knew who they were. He came to Annie demanding sex. Three very bad guys lead by the fabulous Manny Montana as Rio show up and want their drug money back. And one more thing – Beth bonks Annie’s boss on the head with a whiskey bottle because he’s raping Annie. He falls on a glass-topped table (can you say trope?) and dies.

They are in so much trouble!

The chemistry between the three friends is great. Their characters are drawn pretty clearly, even in the premier episode. You can see how their strengths and foibles are going to work in the future as they try to save themselves from jail.

Good Girls airs on Monday nights on NBC. If three women in the lead parts aren’t enough to encourage you to give this show a try, it also has women directors and women writers.

UnREAL

Can you spot the goof?

UnREAL started off season 3 with such a fast paced episode I was surprised an hour had gone by when it was over. This year the person looking for a mate is a successful and rich woman played by Caitlin FitzGerald.

Shiri Appleby, Constance Zimmer, and Craig Bierko are all back as regulars. When the episode begins Shiri Appleby as Rachel has spent 6 months on a remote farm where the only rule is to tell the truth about everything. It’s been good for her. She looks relaxed and wonderful.

Quinn (Zimmer) convinces her to come back and help save their dating reality show from sure cancellation. It only takes one night of producing their manipulation of reality for Rach to be back in the same anxiety ridden condition as before. She should have stayed on the farm. But then we wouldn’t have her on this behind the scenes show that exposes the reality of reality TV. So I guess I’m glad Rach is back.

UnREAL airs on Lifetime. It has women creators, women directors, and women writers. If they can keep up the momentum of this episode, season 3 should be a doozy.

Black Lightning

The Parental Units deliver a talking to

Black Lightning a DC Comics character, now a series on The CW. I’ve been enjoying it. The situations and story line are comic book based, but the characters are interesting, especially the women. Cress Williams plays Jefferson Pierce, school principal and also secretly Black Lightning. Christine Adams is Lynn, his former wife. She’s a healer and medical researcher. Super smart.

They have two daughters. Nafessa Williams as Anissa is a teacher, a lesbian, and just realizing she has powers of her own. Until episode 6 of the first season, she doesn’t know her dad is Black Lightning. Jennifer (China Anne McClain), her little sister, is still in high school. The three women around Jefferson Pierce are strong and interesting. They all contribute to the story in important ways.

I also love the villainous Lady Eve played by Jill Scott. She is just delicious in this part.

Obviously I’m watching for the women. The superheroes will be doing superhero things, but the women are what make the show for me.